social media
Members of Congress blast TikTok CEO as bipartisan support for U.S. ban looks possible
A U.S. House panel grilled TikTok’s CEO for more than five hours last week over the social media giant’s ties to China, and indicated there may be bipartisan consensus for a national ban on the platform. Members of both parties showed an unusual level of agreement during tough questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Several […]
TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans
A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, the last major action […]
What would the world lose with the demise of Twitter?
By Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University What do a cybersecurity researcher building a system to generate alerts for detecting security threats and vulnerabilities, a wildfire watcher who tracks the spread of forest fires, and public health professionals trying to predict enrollment in health insurance exchanges have in common? They all rely on analyzing data from […]
Congress must not overregulate the tech sector and stifle small businesses in the process
The pandemic has posed many challenges to small businesses that rely on personal interaction with customers. Fortunately, tech and digital tools have helped countless businesses confront these challenges, stay afloat and thrive during this unprecedented time. Congress must not pass regulations that constrain tech innovation and stifle small businesses in the process. I started The […]
Report says hundreds of state legislators have joined far-right Facebook groups
More than 1 in 5 Republican state lawmakers across the country have joined at least one far-right Facebook group, according to a new report. Together the lawmakers sponsored 963 bills during the most recent legislative sessions, said the group that wrote the report, which describes the far-right efforts as anti-human rights. The Institute for Research […]
U.S. House panel looks into disinformation targeted at communities of color
WASHINGTON — Experts tracking disinformation efforts online detailed to lawmakers on a U.S. House Administration panel Thursday how communities of color are targets for those disinformation campaigns. Democrats on the Subcommittee on Elections expressed their concern about how communities of color are the subject of election and COVID-19 misinformation through various social media platforms such […]
Elon Musk and oligarchs of the ‘Second Gilded Age’ can both sway public, exploit their data
By Nolan Higdon, California State University, East Bay During the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, and the early decades of the 20th century, U.S. captains of industry such as William Randolph Hearst and Jay Gould used their massive wealth to dominate facets of the economy, including the news media. They were, in many […]
Ohio GOP lawmakers target ‘big tech censorship’
Ohio House Republicans are trying to ban so-called “big tech censorship” within state lines. The move comes as a response to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook suspending or removing the accounts of prominent conservatives who violate their terms of service. Tuesday, opponents of the measure got a chance to speak before the House […]
Radicalization pipelines: How targeted advertising on social media drives people to extremes
By Jeanna Matthews, Clarkson University Have you had the experience of looking at some product online and then seeing ads for it all over your social media feed? Far from coincidence, these instances of eerily accurate advertising provide glimpses into the behind-the-scenes mechanisms that feed an item you search for on Google, “like” on social […]
What will 2022 bring in the way of misinformation on social media? 3 experts weigh in
By Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University; Dam Hee Kim, University of Arizona, and Ethan Zuckerman, UMass Amherst At the end of 2020, it seemed hard to imagine a worse year for misinformation on social media, given the intensity of the presidential election and the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. But 2021 proved up to the […]